Everyone Searches
by missmissa85
Summary: Ami, Anakin, and Lukey Solo are looking for the truth in the wake of the disappearances of their mother and uncle. Who will they meet and what will they discover along the way? Find out.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone Searches, a Star Wars Fanfic

By Missmissa85

Ami Solo sat quietly at her computer console. She could hear someone banging on the door from outside. Then she heard her father threaten to get a laser torch. She didn't take him seriously, but she got up and opened the door anyway.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" he asked angrily.

Han Solo still looked like a war hero, albeit an aged one. His hair was shorter, gray, and his face had more wrinkles than it did when he was winning a war, but his eyes were the most telling. Aside from the present anger, there was an overwhelming sadness in them that would send many men from the room weeping.

"I'm looking for something," Ami answered shortly.

Han glanced around her quarters. "For once your room is the picture of cleanliness," he told her. "I don't see how you could be looking for something in here all day long."

"I wasn't looking for it in my room."

"Found it yet?"

"No."

"Then why don't you come have dinner with the rest of your family?"

Her back stiffened. "The rest of my family is not here." She turned away from him and went back to her computer console.

Han rolled his eyes. "Ami, I've told you a hundred times, I don't know where your mother is or why she left."

"And I've told you that you're lying at least a hundred times," she answered curtly.

"Watch your tone, Little One," he said sternly.

"I'm not your little one," she replied evenly.

Han bit his lip in frustration. "You may carry that damned lightsaber, and you may go two days without eating, and you may sit there with all that Jedi calm, but you're not even seventeen years old. You're not a Jedi yet."

A tear ran down Ami's cheek, as her bedroom door slid shut.

--

Night fell and the lights of passing vehicles flew past Ami's window. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find the link she wanted. Anakin Skywalker was her grandfather, this much she knew, but she could not for the life of her find someone who could possibly have been her grandmother. What data the Empire had not destroyed, the Rebellion damaged in the first years of the war and later the New Republic. She knew there had to be some reason a secret love destroyed what could have been her family, but she couldn't find the answer. She couldn't find it in any archive she linked up to, but perhaps the answer lay in the physical realm. Coruscant was simply one city built on top of another. Perhaps the answer simply lay beneath her feet.

A light rapping at her door shook her out of her reverie.

"Ami, it's Anakin."

"And Lukey," a second voice chimed in.

"Be quiet, you'll wake up Dad," the first voice ordered.

Ami shook her head as she opened the door to her little brothers. Anakin walked past her and plopped down on her bed. Lukey smiled and handed her a tray of cookies. "We thought you would be hungry," he said.

Ami smiled as the door slid shut behind them. Everyone always told Ami she was a carbon copy of her mother. They had the height, build, nose, and eyes. Ami's hair was just a shade or two lighter, more like her father's, before it turned gray, of course. Anakin, however, was the spitting image of his father. Even though he was just thirteen, he was already as tall as Ami. He even had a scar on his chin, which he got from falling off a hover-bike he shouldn't have been riding when he was ten. Luke, or Lukey as they called him, was a different story. The eight-year-old had their mother's chestnut hair, but he had inherited his namesake's blue eyes.

"So what have you been planning?" Anakin asked her.

"What are you talking about?"

"The only time you lock yourself away is when you're planning something," he answered. "So what are you planning, and can I come along?"

Ami rolled her eyes. "I'm not telling you and no, you can't come along."

"Oh, please, you know you're gonna tell me," Anakin replied.

"Can I come?" Lukey asked.

"No!" Ami and Anakin answered in unison.

"You're not coming either, Ani."

"Please don't call me Ani, and you'll need me to watch your back in the Under City."

Ami glared at him. "How did you figure that out?"

"Well, you haven't hacked into the Falcon's security system, which means you're not planning on swiping it and going off to another planet. The only other dubious thing you could be planning is a trip to the Under City," Anakin explained.

Ami sighed in resignation. "I haven't even really started planning yet," she admitted.

"If you let me help you," he said joining her at the computer console, "we can get this planned tonight and execute it tomorrow night."

"Can I come?" Lukey repeated.

"No!"

"If I don't come with you, I might tell dad what you're doing," he answered slyly.

Ami and Anakin turned and looked at their little brother. "That's blackmail," Ami told him.

"Uh-huh," he answered.

"That's illegal, you know," Anakin added.

"Not if it's your brother and sister," Lukey said, smiling.

Ami rolled her eyes. "Fine, get over here and help us."

--

An outsider would probably think that it would be extremely difficult for the daughter of a princess and a war hero to make contacts in the Coruscant underworld. For Ami, however, it was much easier. Before her father took on the mantle of war hero, he was a smuggler, thief, and part-time mercenary. She had a ready-made list of contacts because, no matter who was in power, the crooks would always be crooks.

The bar she was in was on the lowest level of the Upper City. This is where the highest and lowest in society intermingled. She saw prominent merchants making clandestine business deals with heavily armed smugglers, diplomats enjoying foreign drinks, and she was sure she saw at least one high-ranking senator snuggled in a corner with a Rodian prostitute.

She had her hood up so no one would recognize her. She strode up to the bar and ordered a Nubian Ale. The person she was supposed to meet wasn't around. She reached out with the Force and extended her senses. People were talking about her mother's disappearance. Most people believed she had a fight with her 'low-brow' husband and left him. Other wilder stories claimed infidelity from one side or the other.

As angry as Ami was with her father, she knew that none of those reasons was true. Sure, her parents fought half the time, but as much as they fought they adored each other. There was no way they could have been unfaithful, or just given up after a fight.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Her contact was here. He took a place two seats down from her at the bar. He was nothing Ami expected. He wasn't slimy, bulbous, or balding. He was tall, in his early twenties, and rather good looking with his high cheek bones, dark eyes and long black hair tied at the nape of his neck. His only drawbacks were his pale skin and the sharpness of his features, which proved he rarely ate well.

He caught Ami staring at him and she quickly looked back into her ale. She felt him move next to her. He leaned his back against the bar and said, "You need to work on your technique, Princess."

She looked at him. "I am no princess."

He smiled. He had a nice smile. "Yes, you are."

He grabbed her face and kissed her hard on the mouth. Ami at first winced in surprise, but she found herself kissing him back. He broke it off and hovered millimeters from her face. "I'm Izakk," he whispered. "Where do you want to meet?"

He started kissing her neck beneath her ear and Ami suddenly found it very hard to concentrate. She placed a hand on his face and guided her mouth to his ear. "There's an entrance, two streets from here," she whispered.

"I know it," he answered before moving back to her lips. "When?" he asked, shifting to the other side of her neck.

Ami moaned involuntarily and whispered, "Two hours."

"I'll be waiting," he answered.

She kissed him hard on the lips once more before breaking away and readjusting the hood on her cloak.

"Walk away slowly, Princess," Izakk told her quietly. "You don't want to be conspicuous."

She cocked an eyebrow at him before walking away, slowly.

--

"What happened? Did you make contact?" Anakin asked as he let his sister into the family apartment.

"Where's Dad?"

"He's in a meeting with the defense council."

"Did he take Threepio with him?"

Anakin smiled and answered, "Yeah, much to his dislike. Moni and da'Nala are gone as well, in case you're wondering."

"Good, we're meeting our guide in an hour and a half," Ami told him. "Make sure we have some extra food and blankets to sleep with."

"You honestly think we're going stay missing over night? Dad's gonna realize we're gone by dinnertime," Anakin told her.

"But he won't know where to look," Ami said, throwing her cloak on her bed and sitting down at her computer console.

"What are you doing now?" he asked her.

"I'm wiping my computer's memory, so they won't be able to find the last thing I was looking at," Ami explained.

"You know those memory wipes aren't perfect," Anakin said. "No data is ever irretrievable."

"I wasn't born yesterday, Ani."

"Don't call me Ani!"

"This will at least make the process more difficult," Ami explained.

"I've got everything packed," Lukey announced, dragging a couple of knapsacks into Ami's room.

Ami and Anakin both raised their eyebrows in surprise. "Did you get food and blankets?" Ami asked him.

Lukey nodded. "I even packed extra clothes for everyone," he explained. "I heard temperatures vary greatly in the Under City."

Anakin nodded his approval. "What's in the other bag?" he asked.

"Stuff we might need," Lukey answered.

"What kind of stuff?" Ami asked dubiously.

"Stuff," Anakin reiterated. "Trust us on this."

Ami rolled her eyes and went back to her computer console. Her brothers were almost as famous for building gadgets as they were for taking them apart. Once, when Lukey was only five, they took Threepio apart and decorated the apartment with the pieces. Their father thought it was hilarious, though he couldn't show it because their mother was furious. Everything was always Anakin's idea, but Lukey was the one who always put it into motion.

"Alright, I'm all done," Ami said getting up from the console and throwing her cloak back on. "We'll have to get out through the servant's corridors to avoid being seen."

"Ami, we went through the plan last night," Anakin reminded her.

She rolled her eyes as she unlocked the door to her parents' quarters and strode inside.

"This isn't part of the plan," Anakin called after her.

Ami unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and sliced the lock off of a safe door. She reached in and pulled out a gun belt and blaster.

"Oh, yeah, Dad's _really_ going to appreciate you stealing his favorite gun," Anakin said as he watched her strap it to her waist and thigh.

Ami, in response, threw him another blaster. "Keep that close," she told him.

"You've gone insane."

"Do I get one?"

"No," Ami and Anakin answered their little brother together.

"You have a lightsaber," Ami reminded him as she moved toward the back of the room.

"Just a kid one," Lukey whined.

"That's because you're just a kid."

"Am not!"

"Shut up!"

Ami pushed in a panel on the wall and a door slid open.

"Mom and Dad have a servants' entrance? I feel deprived," Anakin said.

"Be quiet," Ami warned. "Lukey, I want you to stay behind me. Ani, you take up the rear."

"Don't call me Ani."

The trio wound their way through the stairs and passages of the high-rise building. Five stories from the ground, Anakin looked out a window.

"Ami, there's two guards down there," he reported. "They must have tightened security since Mom left."

"Then we'll have to jump."

"Jump!" Lukey exclaimed.

"It's okay, Lukey, we know what we're doing," Anakin assured him. "Ami, how are you planning to get out? It's not like there's a balcony, or –"

A window, frame and all, landing in the floor answered his question.

"Lukey, get on my back," Ami told him.

"What?"

"Trust us, Lukey," Anakin said, raising his brother onto his sister's back.

"And try not to scream," Ami added as she stepped into the hole left by the window.

Lukey bit his tongue to keep from screaming as he traveled down five stories on his sister's back. She landed quite gently, and he slid off as he heard his brother land behind them. "How do you do that?" he asked them.

Ami and Anakin looked at one another and smiled. "You'll learn someday," his sister promised.

They spied around the corner at the guards. "We still have to get past them without being seen," Anakin reminded them.

"I have something," Lukey said as he pulled an odd-looking metal object out of the bag of 'stuff.'

"Do I even want to know?" Ami muttered to Anakin.

Lukey activated the device and they immediately heard a baby crying from the far end of the building. The two guards looked at each other and then followed the sound. Ami cocked an eyebrow at her youngest brother.

"It throws sound like a ventriloquist throws it's voice," Lukey explained happily. "I call it a cry baby, cause, well, it's a crying baby."

"It's brilliant, isn't it?" Anakin added.

Ami just rolled her eyes. "We have to go."

She hurriedly led her brothers through the lowest level of the Upper City. Lukey had to practically run to keep up. Anakin grabbed his hand to keep him from falling behind. The sun had nearly disappeared when they reached their destination. Ami couldn't help it, her heart sped up when she saw Izakk waiting for them.

"Ugh!" Anakin grunted. "Did you kiss that guy?"

He didn't see her hands move, but he felt something punch him in the jaw. "Ow!" he yelled. "How did you do that?"

She looked back at him slyly. "You'll learn someday."

"You've brought a couple of kids," Izakk said as they got close. "How very inconspicuous of you, Princess."

"Oh, they're my bodyguards," she answered facetiously. "The little one is an Ewok in disguise."

Izakk laughed breathily and smiled at her. Lukey's face scrunched in confusion. Anakin groaned in disgust.

"Could you please just show us where we're going?" he asked haughtily.

Izakk's eyes rolled over to him. "I don't take orders from you, boy."

"My name's Anakin."

"We call him Ani," Ami said smiling.

"We do _not_!" Anakin insisted.

Lukey giggled.

Obviously amused, Izakk said, "Whatever you're called, say goodbye to the sun, you won't be seeing it for a while."

Izakk led them into the darkness. "Stay close," Ami whispered as she took Lukey's hand.

"Just because this is the underworld doesn't mean people won't recognize you," Izakk told them. "Keep your hoods up."

Ami pulled hers forward and Anakin pulled his up from his back.

"I don't have a hood," Lukey whispered to his sister.

"Just keep your head down," she advised.

Ami squinted as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. Some places in the Under City were all but pitch black, others were lit up bright as day. The varying light was starting to give her a headache.

"How do you deal with the light down here?" she asked Izakk after almost half an hour.

"Like most things, Princess, you get used to it," he answered.

"Do you really think you should be calling me 'Princess'?"

Izakk stopped and turned so suddenly, Ami nearly walked right into him. As it was, she found herself only centimeters from his face once again.

"Every man has a princess, Princess," he said. "I'll call you what I like."

Ami was stunned silent. Anakin's face reddened. "Stop playing my sister," he said, anger boiling under the surface.

"Ani!"

"Don't call me that."

Izakk's grin had an almost evil look about it. "You think I'm afraid of you, boy?"

"I think you don't know me," Anakin said, placing a hand on his lightsaber.

Izakk chuckled. "Come on, we have to get down as far as possible before your father realizes you're gone."

Izakk's steps quickened, and the Solos struggled to keep up. Anakin eventually had to resort to carrying Lukey on his back. Lights became dimmer the farther down they went. The people became darker as well. Lukey held on tighter to his brother's neck as they went. After the quartet had walked for a good two hours, Izakk held a hand up to stop them.

"I'll give you a chance to turn back here, Princess," he said.

"Turn back?"

"This has been the darkest place in the Under City for nearly forty years," he explained. "Only the most desperate venture here."

"Why's that?" Anakin asked.

Izakk glanced at him before turning his gaze back on Ami. "This is where most Jedi met their end, in their temple. This place is filled with their spirits. Few who go in come back out with their wits."

"Have you been in before?" Ami asked him.

"I was born in there," Izakk answered.

"That explains a lot," Anakin muttered.

"We need to go where no one else has probably ever been," Ami explained. "We need to see the Jedi archives."

Izakk crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't tell me you're so naïve, you don't think the Empire destroyed every piece of Jedi data they could get their hands on?"

"Oh, no, I'm pretty sure they did," Ami answered. "I just think there was some data they couldn't get their hands on."

Izakk nodded. "I have thought the same. But, know this, from here on, I'm only operating on supposition. I can't make any guarantees you'll find what you're looking for."

"I understand."

Izakk grinned. "I hope you're not afraid of the dark, Princess. We're going down as far as we can go."

Lukey produced a lamp from his bag and turned it on. It gave out an almost blindingly bright light. Realizing everyone's discomfort, he turned it down to half-power, which gave them more than enough light to see where they were going.

"Kid, how did you get that thing to do that?" Izakk asked him.

"It was very complicated," Lukey answered as he handed the lamp to their guide. "It took me forever to figure out a way to increase the power without blowing out the bulb."

"Well, you did a damn good job," Izakk told them as he started leading them on. "Stay close."

_Do you really think we should trust him?_ Anakin's voice said in Ami's head.

_No, but we don't really have a choice at this point,_ Ami answered. _We're committed now._

Anakin looked behind them. _Dad will have realized we're gone by now. In a few hours, all the police and half of the military on Coruscant will be looking for us. They might even think we've been kidnapped._

_There's no ransom demand; Dad'll figure we just left. He's not stupid,_ Ami reminded him.

"Will you two shut up?" Izakk asked them angrily.

Ami and Anakin froze. "We weren't talking," she told him.

"I heard you whispering," Izakk insisted.

"We _weren't_ speaking," Anakin said.

Izakk narrowed his gaze toward them. "Just keep quiet. I don't know exactly what's down here."

_That was weird,_ Anakin said as they ventured into the darkness.

_Yes, it was._

--

"General?"

"You don't have to call me by my rank, Wedge," Han answered.

"Sorry, it's a habit," Wedge Antilles said as he entered the room. "There hasn't been any sort of communication indicating a kidnapping."

Han shook his head. "Oh, I didn't think the kids had been kidnapped," he said indicating the open safe.

"You think it was a break-in?" Wedge asked.

Han shook his head again. "No, the lock wasn't burned off by a blaster. Only one thing leaves that kind of burn; a lightsaber. The kids took the blasters themselves."

"How many did they take?"

"Just two."

"Where would they be going that they'd need blasters on top of lightsabers?"

"I'm not sure," Han answered. "Get a tech to pull all the files on Ami's computer."

"Yes, Sir. Where are you going?" Wedge asked as Han quickly got up and left the room.

"I have to check something on the _Falcon_," he answered. "Keep everything under control until I get back."

--

"Chewie, lower the ramp, I'm coming in," Han said into his communicator as he approached the _Falcon_.

His faithful Wookie companion, Chewbacca, met him at the top of the ramp. "Has Ami been in here in the last couple of days?"

Chewie growled affirmatively.

"Do you know what she did?"

Chewie shook his furry head and growled mournfully.

"It's okay, Buddy, I understand," Han said. "She probably just accessed some files. I'll be in the cockpit."

Chewie nodded. He understood Han needed to be alone. Han closed the cockpit door and sat down in the pilot's chair. He knew why Ami sneaked onto the _Falcon_. There was only one thing she had access to there that she didn't have anywhere else; the black files, Han's list of mercenaries and underworld contacts. From what he could tell, Ami limited her search to his Coruscant contacts, which meant they hadn't gone off-world. That was only a small comfort. He knew a lot of disreputable people in the Under City.

After nearly an hour, he found what he was looking for. Ami downloaded information on Kadesh Murin, a Corellian smuggler and pilot who had spent the last thirty years or so based in the Coruscant underworld.

He opened a comm line to his apartment. "Wedge, are you there?"

"Yes, General, did you find what you were looking for?" Wedge answered.

"Well, I found something," Han admitted. "I'm sending it to you now."

"Kadesh Murin," Wedge said. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Corellian Flight Academy," Han answered. "He was probably an instructor when you were attending."

"He was," Wedge said, "but he was gone before the end of my first term. Nobody knew exactly what happened."

"He got a better offer," Han explained. "See if you can find him in the official records. I'll be back in an hour."

"We'll be here."

Han worked the _Falcon_'s control panels until he was sufficiently satisfied that he had scrambled the signal. His wife's image appeared on the comm screen. She seemed more tired than usual, but she was still beautiful to his eyes.

"Han, what do you think you're doing? Is this a secure channel?"

"I know how to scramble a signal, Sweetheart," he answered.

"What's wrong?"

Han took a deep breath. "The kids are gone."

"What?!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Ami, I'm hungry," Lukey whined.

"Izakk, have we reached a stopping place?" she asked.

He squinted at his surroundings, which were black beyond the light of Lukey's lantern. "I believe so," he answered. "Take this."

He shoved the lantern into Ami's arms and ran off into the darkness.

"What's he doing?" Lukey asked.

"I have no idea," Ami answered honestly.

"You do realize we're surrounded by rats," Anakin whispered.

"They won't hurt us," Ami assured him.

Lukey's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"We can feel them through the Force," Ani explained. "We can even direct their thoughts."

"You'll—"

"I know, I'll learn someday," Lukey finished.

"I'm turning on the lights," Izakk's voice called out to them.

"What lights?"

The Solos gasped as light after light illuminated one of the largest single rooms they had ever been in. The ceiling was at least fifty feet high. Computer consoles lined three walls and cases built for containing data rods lined the fourth. Even though the floor was littered with glass and computer parts, the place spoke of grandeur and majesty.

"I think you can turn the lantern off now, Princess," Izakk said, now standing next to Ami.

Mildly embarrassed, she switched the device off and handed it back to her brother. "What was this place?" she asked.

"As best as we could figure, this was the Jedi archive," Izakk answered.

"We?"

"Me and my dad," Izakk explained. "We practically lived here until I was thirteen."

"What happened when you were thirteen?" Anakin asked.

"Do you really expect me to tell you?"

"No."

"Good," Izakk told him. "This place is safe enough for tonight."

Ami cleared a place for them to sit and spread out a blanket. She gave her brothers some food packets. They wolfed them down hungrily. She offered one to Izakk.

"I'm not hungry," he told her.

"You sure?"

"I'm not used to eating very much."

"Have it your way."

"I'll take the first watch tonight," Izakk announced a few minutes later.

"You not used to sleeping very much either?" Ami asked.

He gave her a sideways grin. "No, Princess, I'm not."

After a while, Lukey curled up next to his sister. Anakin laid down three feet away to prove how brave he was. Ami wrapped her arms around her youngest brother, but she did not go to sleep. She watched Izakk until his eyelids drooped and his chin came to a rest on his chest. She smiled. The raven-haired young man's bravado was familiar to her. She'd lived with it all her life.

--

The Coruscant night sometimes seemed lighter than day due to the trillions of lights on buildings and vehicles, but that was only true in the Upper City. The Under City was dark in broad daylight, and darker still at night. Han's children were almost certainly in that oppressive darkness, and that thought scared him more than anything had before in his life.

Various aides, military, and law-enforcement officials were talking to him, but he was only listening for one voice.

"Han!"

"Yeah, Wedge, what did you find?" he asked, following the man to an isolated computer console.

"Kadesh Murin died in a bar fight in the Low City ten years ago," Wedge informed him.

Han sighed in frustration and sat down. "She had to have found something on him," he muttered.

"Out of curiosity, how did Ami get any information on him?" Wedge asked.

Han figured this would be forthcoming. "From my files on the _Falcon_."

"You keep a list of underworld contacts?"

"Try not to spread that around, will ya?"

"Sorry."

Han buried his head in his hands as he thought. "Wait a minute, Desh had a son."

"Are you sure? It doesn't show that he had any family in the records," Wedge said.

"Yeah, I remember because we saw him the day the Alliance landed on Coruscant."

"We did?"

"Yeah, don't you remember that night a bunch of us went to a bar in the Low City to celebrate?"

Wedge's cheeks flushed. "I don't really remember a whole lot about that night."

Han suppressed a smile. "Yeah, well, you had a lot to forget about that night. But I remember seeing Desh there, and he had a three-year-old boy with him he told me was his son. I just can't remember the kid's name."

"Whose name are we trying to remember?"

Han and Wedge turned to see Lando Calrissian sweeping toward them. Han stood up and gave his old friend a bear hug.

"It's good to see you," Han told him.

"I came as soon as I heard," Lando answered. "So we've ruled out kidnapping?"

Han nodded as they sat down. "Ami broke into my gun safe herself, not so much because she thought she'd need the blasters, but because she wanted me to know no one else nabbed them."

"Well, you might want to think about releasing some sort of statement," Lando advised. "First with Leia, and now the kids, the press are really winding up the rumor mill."

Han rolled his eyes. "Lando, do you remember Kadesh Murin?"

"Yeah, he was good smuggler," Lando answered. "He had a kid named Izakk."

"That's it!" Han exclaimed. "Wedge, see if you can find Izakk Murin."

"Also look for a Zakk Marin," Lando added. "I think he may have changed his name after his father died."

"Got it," Wedge announced after only a few moments. "He had some minor assault and vandalism charges when he was younger, but it's just basic kids' stuff. The last couple of years he's been implicated, but never charged in a couple of smuggling operations. It doesn't look like he's ever operated off of Coruscant."

"See if you can find him on any security feeds for the last 24 hours," Han said.

"Why would Ami want to get a hold of a smuggler?" Lando asked Han.

"He's never been off Coruscant," Han answered. "He probably knows the Under City better than anyone else in my files."

"You think she was looking for a guide?"

"Yep."

"For what?"

"I'm not sure, but I've got a pretty good idea," Han answered.

"Uh, General," Wedge said.

"Yes," Han and Lando answered together.

"General Solo," Wedge clarified, "I, uh, think you should you see this."

The vid screen in front of Wedge showed Izakk Murin in a bar, passionately kissing Ami Solo. The really disturbing thing to Han, however, was that his daughter was kissing him back.

"Somehow I think that kid is involved in all of this," Lando said.

Han set his jaw. "Release this vid to all the news outlets."

"Sir?"

"Do it," Han reiterated. "And release all the information on this Izakk Murin or Zakk Marin or whatever-his-name-is as a person of interest in the disappearance of my children."

"Yes, Sir."

--

"Ami."

She was certain no one in the room had spoken.

"Ami."

She didn't recognize the voice, but it felt familiar somehow.

"Ami."

She eased her arms away from her brother and quietly moved away. She followed the voice to a dark corner of the archive. She moved a chair and found a hole only big enough for someone her size to fit through. The voice urged her into the darkness. She crawled ten meters until the voice warned her to be careful. She gingerly felt the floor with her hand and found it gave out a mere ten centimeters in front of her. With great difficulty, she maneuvered herself into a feet-first position. She pushed herself off the ledge and landed on her feet no t far below. She groped around and found a lever and pushed it to the up position. Light streamed into the room from slots in the ceiling.

"How does that work?" she muttered to herself.

"Mirrors," the voice answered. "The light actually comes from lanterns on the surface."

Ami turned and smiled. She knew the man, though she had never seen him. He was tall and handsome with dark blonde, curly hair. He wore clothes of natural white and a dark brown cloak and hood. Blue light surrounded him.

"You don't look old enough to have grandchildren," she teased.

He laughed. "I'm glad you inherited your father's sense of humor. Although I do think it's rather unfortunate you inherited the Skywalker stubbornness."

Ami's back stiffened. "It's not stubbornness, it's resolve."

He had a nice laugh.

Ami's smile widened. "So, what is this place?" The dark room was piled high with crates made of composite and even some ancient ones made of wood.

"This is the most secret of Jedi hiding places," he answered. "Only the highest members of the Jedi Council knew of it…and a few enterprising children."

"Like you?" Ami asked.

"No," he answered quickly, "I had no knowledge of this place until…until I joined my companions in the Force."

Ami cocked an eyebrow. "Why did you lead me here?"

He appeared to sit down on a crate and motioned for her to follow. She joined him and said, "Grandfather?"

He smiled at the sound of the word. "Only part of what you seek is here, Amidala."

She flinched at the sound of her full name. "No one calls me that."

He smiled as though remembering something from long ago. "That was her name," he said quietly.

"Who?"

"Your grandmother," he answered. "Padmé Amidala Naberie was her name. Amidala is how her people knew her. You look like her."

Ami smiled and blushed at the thought. "Were you happy together?"

Her grandfather's face fell.

"What's wrong?"

"We were very happy when we were together," he began, "but we were together far too infrequently."

"Why?" she asked.

"We were married in the utmost secrecy," he explained.

Truth and the realization of it fell on Ami. "The Jedi Order didn't allow marriage."

He shook his head. "They didn't really believe in outside attachments at all. You see, a padawan was generally separated from his family at an early age."

"What's a padawan?"

He blinked in surprise. "Things _have_ changed," he said. "All the information you need on the Order is in this room. But as for your grandmother, you will have to go to her home planet of Naboo to find what you are looking for."

Ami nodded. "Thank you."

His face looked pained. "What do you feel in the Temple, Amidala?"

"Despair," she answered, "and death."

He nodded. "And in here?"

Ami opened herself to the Force. "Despair, but also…hope, and the need for survival."

"Very good," he told her. "That is what Karilla left behind in this place. She hid and survived here as a child and eventually met and married a smuggler named Kadesh Murin."

Ami's eyes widened. "Izakk's mother was a Jedi?"

"She would have been if…"

"If Vader hadn't destroyed the Order," Ami finished for him.

"No," he said, "if _I_ hadn't destroyed the Order."

"What?"

Her grandfather sighed. "Anakin Skywalker became a Sith lord and took the name Darth Vader. As Vader, I slaughtered the Jedi, young and old alike."

"Why?"

He obviously had not expected so calm a response from his granddaughter. "I was afraid," he answered simply.

"Of losing Padmé?"

"Yes."

"You shouldn't have been."

"I know," he answered. "The Order was right. We-"

"No they weren't," Ami interrupted defiantly.

"What do you mean?"

"They shouldn't have forbidden love among their members," Ami continued.

He looked at her kindly. "You are very young."

"But not so young that I don't know what love is," Ami insisted. "I love my father and my mother and my uncle and even my brothers, most of the time," her grandfather chuckled, "but I'm not afraid to lose them because the Force works in this world and the next and I know, no matter what, they will be all right. You may think your love for your wife was your undoing, but it was your salvation. Without that love, my mother and my uncle would never have been born. My uncle, who brought you back from the Dark Side, because he _loved_ you."

Tears apparently formed in his eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. She could almost feel his lips on her skin. "Take what you need from here, and then you must go straight to Naboo," he told her."

"But-"

"Don't argue," he warned. "It must be done."

Ami nodded. "I understand, Pops."

He smirked. "That sounds strange. Your friend, Izakk, will have great need of you before the end."

"The end of what?"

"You'll learn someday."

Ami grimaced at the sound of her own words.

"I have to go now," he told her.

"Should I tell my brothers the truth?"

"About me? You must do what you feel is right," he answered.

"Of course."

He looked her straight in the eye. "I love you, Amidala."

"I love you, too, Pops."

Her grandfather smiled brightly and faded away.


	3. Chapter 3

Ami busied herself the next few hours gathering datachips, books, and scrolls. She found an old canvas bag and stuffed it full. She found urns with unfamiliar names engraved on them. Then she found a cache of lightsabers. Some of them were even small enough for quite young children to wield. Others were old and gilded with gold and jewels. Though there was barely room for them, she stuffed most of them in the bag.

"_Amidala Kala Solo, where the hell are you?_" Anakin's voice rang out in her head.

"I'm coming!" she shouted back out loud.

She came out in the main archive with three disapproving young men staring at her. She shoved the bag out before taking Izakk's hand and standing up.

"What's all this?" Anakin asked, indicating the bag.

"What we came here for," Ami answered.

Anakin cocked an eyebrow. "Thanks for including us."

"You can go through it all on the way to Naboo," Ami told them.

"We're going to Naboo?"

"What's booboo?" Lukey asked.

"Naboo," Ami and Anakin repeated.

"Why do you have to go to Naboo, Princess?" Izakk asked her.

"My grandfather told me to," she answered.

"Huh?" Anakin asked.

"Fair enough," Izakk said.

Ami's head snapped toward him in surprise. He just smiled in return and swung the bag over his shoulder.

"Excuse me," Anakin began, "but you do realize that all of our grandparents are very dead?"

"So is my mother," Izakk answered.

Anakin's forehead furrowed and his mouth opened, but no sound came out.

"I'm really confused," Lukey whispered to his brother.

"So am I," Anakin muttered back.

Izakk returned his playful eyes to Ami's face. "Naboo's not exactly close. Have you got a good ship?"

He headed out of the archive. The Solos had to gather their gear as they went to keep up.

"We could take the _Falcon_," Lukey suggested.

"No. By now Dad will have figured out I was there," Ami explained. "He'll have Chewie guarding it non-stop. We'll never get past him."

"What? The three Solos can't get past one man?" Izakk called back to them.

"Chewie's a Wookie," Anakin answered flatly.

"Oh."

"I suppose we could just go home and explain the situation to Dad," Ami suggested weakly.

"Oh, yes, I think Daddy will definitely believe the whole Grandfather-told-us-to-do-it thing," Lukey said incredulously.

Ami and Anakin stared at him for his sudden show of sarcasm. Lukey just smiled proudly.

As they exited the Temple, Ami and Anakin pulled up their hoods. Lukey took to holding his sister's hand.

"Wait a second," Anakin said, stopping in his tracks. "We have _The Hawk_."

The all looked at him blankly.

"Ani, what are you talking about?"

"_Don't call me that!_ And _The Hawk_ is this old, small passenger transport Dad had refurbished," Anakin answered.

"So?"

"Well, it's your birthday present," Anakin told his sister. "Or, at least it was before we went on this little adventure," he added sheepishly.

"How do you even know about this?" she asked, hands on hips.

"I'm sneakier than you," Anakin answered as though it should have been obvious.

"More important," Izakk began, stepping in, "where is this ship?"

Anakin glared at the young man. "What's it to you?"

"Ani," his sister warned quietly.

Her thoughts touched his and he noticeably softened. Calmly, he explained, "It's at the Kessel shipyard. There're only two guards at the entrance and _maybe_ one on the ship itself. Dad probably won't think of it because you didn't know about it, and you're, you know, the mastermind."

"Well, Princess, you think your little family can handle three guards?" Izakk asked, smirking.

"We can," she answered

"Ami," Lukey called, "I think you should look at this."

They turned and saw a group of people staring at a large vid screen. The display zoomed in on Izakk and Ami kissing in the bar the day before. Izakk's single image and name appeared with a request for his whereabouts as he had information concerning the disappearance of General and Senator Solo's children.

Izakk muttered something Ami was sure was a curse.

"Why do you look like you're enjoying that?" Anakin asked his sister while his eyes were glued to the screen.

"Because I was," Ami admitted.

"I think my job here is finished," Izakk said putting the bag down on the ground.

"No, you're coming with us," Ami told him.

Izakk glanced down and noticed she had her blaster trained on him. Anakin grabbed his brother's hand and stepped away from the other pair.

"You think you can intimidate me?" Izakk asked her. "I live _here_, in the Under City."

"You want to know what's in that bag," Ami replied.

Izakk stepped closer to her. The muzzle of the blaster pressed into his stomach. "Why would I want to know about your little quest, Princess?"

Ami drew closer and lifted her lips to his ear and slowly whispered, "You want to know what your mother died for."

Izakk stepped back, gulped, and looked at Ami as though she just turned bright orange.

"Ami, the report's over," Anakin warned. "People are going to start noticing any moment."

She holstered her blaster and held her hand out to the raven-haired young man. "Come with us, Izakk," she asked quietly.

He looked over her head. "That Twi'lek over there," he began, "I think he would give up his vehicle if you asked nicely."

Ami smiled. She didn't have very much experience doing what Izakk suggested, but she reached into the Force and walked up to the pasty alien.

"Excuse me, Sir, we need to borrow your vehicle," she said calmly.

"_You need to borrow my vehicle_," the Twi'lek answered in his native tongue.

Izakk stowed their gear in the back.

"Someone will let you know where to pick it up in a couple of days," Ami continued.

"_A couple of days_."

Anakin hoisted Lukey into one of the rear seats and strapped him in.

"You can go about your business," Ami told the Twi'lek.

"_I can go about my business_," he said before walking away in a daze.

Izakk and Anakin both tried to get into the front passenger seat.

"Ani, you're driving," Ami ordered.

"Don't call me that!"

"Is that legal?" Lukey asked.

"I don't think that matters right now, Kid," Izakk answered, chuckling.

Ami jumped into the backseat next to her younger brother and shouted, "Ani, drive! Izakk, give him directions!"

They both jumped to follow her commands. They sped forward and Ami looked at Lukey. "Have you got a computer uplink in your bag of tricks?"

"I cannot believe that girl," Han muttered as he paced.

"You can't believe she ran off or that she kissed the son of a smuggler in a bar?" Lando asked.

Han stopped in his tracks and eyes his friend. "Both," he answered. "It's just-I can't really remember when she became a grown woman."

"Well, girls mature faster than boys," Lando said as he stood and poured himself a drink.

Han cocked an eyebrow at him. "That's not very helpful."

Lando handed him a full glass. "Well, I'm not the one with three kids."

Han chuckled as they clicked their glasses together.

"Sir, I just really don't think this is necessary," a nervous voice said from the hall.

"I think it is," Wedge answered, pushing a young man into the room.

"What's goin' on?" Han asked.

"Tell him," Wedge ordered.

"Well," the young man began, "it's your ship, General."

"The _Falcon_?"

"No!" the young man answered quickly. "It's your new ship, Sir, the one you have stored at Kessel Shipyards. I believe it's called _The Hawk_."

"Yeah, what about it?"

The young man nervously wiped the sweat from his brow. "Well, Sir, something or someone has apparently tapped into the ship's systems."

"And?"

"Uh, well, it-it's taking off, Sir."

Han's eyes widened. "It's what?"

"It's taking off," the nervous officer repeated, his voice becoming a squeak.

"Can you jam the signal?" Han asked.

"The ship yard has already tried, Sir," the nervous officer answered. "But whoever is doing this is obviously way ahead of them."

"That daughter of yours is quite good with computers," Lando reminded Han.

He nodded in response. "Wedge, trace the source of the tap. When you find it, send the cops after them."

Wedge nodded curtly and quickly turned. Han clapped the nervous officer on the shoulder. "You did the right thing, Kid," he told him.

The younger man breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sir."

--

"So what's the plan for getting past those three guards?" Anakin shouted back to his sister as they sped through Coruscant's Upper City.

"We don't have to," she answered. "I've already got the ship in the air. All you have to do is fly us into the hold and we should be fine."

"Watch your speed, Kid," Izakk warned. "We don't want any extra attention."

"Too late!" Lukey yelled.

Ami and Izakk turned to see two police speeders with their lights flashing following them.

"Ani?"

"Don't call me that! Hold on!"

Anakin thrust the speeder into a high-speed nosedive. Izakk grabbed the seat and gritted his teeth. Lukey screamed at the top of his lungs. Ami reached out with the Force and felt the proximity of the ground and the two speeders behind them. One speeder broke off pursuit. People on the ground scattered.

"Anakin!"

Her brother pulled up at the absolute last moment. The remaining speeder skidded to a halt on Coruscant's lowest level. The g-forces made Ami's head spin.

"Forget about watching your speed, Kid, just get us out of here," Izakk yelled.

Ami groped around for the computer uplink. She breathed a sigh of relief when Lukey handed it to her. "I'm opening the hangar door!" she called out.

"Ami, they're back!" Lukey cried.

The police speeder that had earlier broken off pursuit was now right behind them.

"Faster, Ani, faster!"

The police continued to close the gap.

"Faster would be better!" Ami screamed.

"Would you just shut up and let me fly this thing?"

The police were only meters away. They called for them to shut down their engines. Izakk started to pull out his blaster, but Ami's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Ami, start that ship of yours toward the atmosphere," Anakin said with uncharacteristic serenity.

"What?!"

"Do it! Trust me."

Ami nodded as though she understood.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Lukey muttered.

_The Hawk_ appeared in front of them. It had a cylindrical shape with two wings each boasting a massive engine. It was only slightly smaller than their father's _Millenium Falcon_.

"Get ready to close the main hatch!" Anakin yelled. "And hold onto something!"

"The cops are right on top of us, Kid!"

"Ami, now!"

She pressed the control and tossed the uplink at the police before grabbing Lukey's hand. Anakin diverted all power to the rear thrusters. They blasted into _The Hawk_'s main hold and skidded to a stop on its metal floor. They looked back to see the police narrowly avoiding a collision with the main hatch.

Ami hopped out of the speeder. "Ani, where's the cockpit?"

"Don't call me—"

"Ani!"

"Through the doors and straight ahead," he answered sheepishly.

"What's your plan, Princess?" Izakk asked as he followed her through the ship.

"Get out of here before Dad stops us," she answered flatly.

--

"Sir, they're breaking the atmosphere," the nervous lieutenant reported.

"Let 'em go," Han told him.

"I could have Rogue Squadron in the air in five minutes," Wedge said.

"I'm not sending fighters after my own kids," Han answered.

"But—"

"No," Han insisted loudly. "Besides, I think I know where they're headed." He punched a button on the com. "Chewie, get her ready for take-off." Chewie growled an affirmation.

"Han, old buddy, you can't possibly be thinking of leaving now," Lando said, stepping in his friend's way.

Han gently, but firmly pushed him out of the way. "Yes, I am."

"Look, the press are already having a field day with Leia and then the kids going missing," Lando explained. "You can't leave too."

"And on top of all that, no one seems to be able to locate Luke," Wedge added.

Han's head snapped around to face his fellow Corellian. "You better keep that piece of information to yourself, Antilles."

Wedge stepped back at the harshness of Han's words. The nervous lieutenant shrank further into his seat. Han snapped his head back toward Lando.

"Give President Ackbar my sincerest apologies," he said, though he didn't sound sincere in the least. "I'm outta here."

All eyes were on his back as he disappeared out of the apartment.


End file.
